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Singapore: Chong Wen Ge Café 崇文阁

20:59

After a lull in the Singapore cafés scene for the past weeks comes the brand-new Peranakan café, Chong Wen Ge 崇文阁! Located just adjacent to Thian Hock Keng Temple, the layout of this place is definitely incredibly unique, with seating on the first floor of a three-storey pagoda and indoor air-conditioned area with Peranakan tiles. I was psyched to visit this place and can't wait to try out their food here!

Chong Wen Ge Café appears to be a family-run business, and the service staff are all energetic and friendly. On a weekday, the office crowd mobs the entire place during lunch time. This means if you can, try to beat the lunch crowd (half past 11 or earlier should be safe). We reached slightly after 1 in the afternoon and they already ran out of Nyonya Curry Chicken and Nyonya Laksa. I was quite disappointed because I was really looking forward to satisfying my laksa craving - but we decided on Mee Siam (SGD6.80) and Satay Bee Hoon (SGD8.80) to try.

This is the menu of Chong Wen Ge Café 崇文阁.

The Satay Bee Hoon was my choice, with its beehoon doused in a generous amount of very strong sweet and spicy peanut sauce. There was an abundance of ingredients in there - pork slices, pig liver, beansprouts, kangkong, clams... it fell short of my expectations as I wished it could be a lot more wokhei and richness in terms of that, though I guess within the limits of their kitchen it was good enough. Similarly, the taste of the Mee Siam tends towards sweet than sour, with a lack of depth in taste for its soup broth again. If you're expecting a 'hawker' taste, you would be disappointed. Nevertheless, the good thing about Chong Wen Ge is that they are very generous with their ingredients and it feels more value for money that way. Their Teh C Special (SGD5.50) is their signature drink that must not be missed.

Beside the café space, there is a shop selling Peranakan tiles which is endlessly fascinating for us. They restored tiles from shophouses around Singapore and other countries as well.

Chong Wen Ge Café 崇文阁

168 Telok Ayer Street

Singapore 068619

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I share interesting episodes in life revolving around food, lifestyle, travel and inspirational ideas. If you would like to stay in touch, follow me on my Instagram on @amie.hu and Facebook page!